3Update #21 on the Kickstarter for Project Eternity by Obsidian Entertainment outlines their plans for the homestretch of this fundraiser, which has raised more than double its original goal. Planned activities include a couple of livestream events (including an all-day Icewind Dale II playthrough) and a reddit AMA session. Thanks nin.

Jerykk wrote on Oct 14, 2012, 17:59:I wish they didn't need to bribe funders with physical goods. Those things are expensive and time-consuming and I'd much rather see every penny goes towards the game itself.

As usual, you make a thoughtful point Jerykk. However, I think if you choose to look at the physical goods as loot drops, you might choose to re-think your wish!

Creston wrote on Oct 14, 2012, 10:50:Add in the fact that a lot of these guys have made this exact type of game before, plenty of times, and I think they're being pretty reasonable with their stretch goals.

Creston

Gotta agree. These stretch goals seem perfectly reasonable given the increments. These guys have made games before, and they know what it costs to make one. I certainly trust Obsidian more than some indie developer who hasn't quite got a handle on the costs of development, and doesn't have a finance department to do projections.

Am I the only one that thinks they've way gone beyond the point of biting off more than they can chew?

No, I worry about that a little, too...but at the same time, I feel like they're a lot more qualified to attempt it than some random team who's never published anything. They've had both hits and misses, and in my opinion, the quality of their games has improved in recent years (compared to some of the buggy games they're sometimes known for).

Also, and the key advantage of KS, is that they don't have a publisher breathing down their neck or dictating a ship date, to match the advertising budget that's already been scheduled. The only people they have to answer to is the fans, and if they said "since we got a lot more money (and added a lot of extra features), this will impact when the final project ships" any sane backer would realize that's a good thing, and be patient.

I'm by no means saying it's a sure bet. But I feel like the risk is low enough that, like you, I pledged high.

Oh, and congrats on 3 million! Nice to see that first thing as I roll out of bed this morning!

Cram wrote on Oct 14, 2012, 04:49:Am I the only one that thinks they've way gone beyond the point of biting off more than they can chew? FWIW, I am currently at the $140 donation, in case that matters when reading my thoughts.

I agree with a point in their description. Baldur's Gate and Athkatla are big cities. The amount of detail in both, which were in separate games, was, at the the time and even especially today with how games are made, unbelievable. That said, they've gone from wanting 1.1 million for a early 2014 date to a game with suddenly a multiple fold addition in systems and content, at still an early 2014 release date. Maybe they planned this right from the beginning, but they've given little evidence so far that this is so. At 3.5 million, possibly achievable, they want two giant cities on top of everything else going on?

This has gotten ridiculous. They're promising the entire Baldur's Gate saga, on steroids, at this point, for a few million. 7+ stories of a mega dungeon, I imagine Watchers Keep (5 or so stories) alone took a dedicated semi-separate team working on the BG2 expansion the entire development time of said expansion to make.

The enthusiasm Obsidian is putting behind this, the daily updates, is incredible. However, this game isn't anywhere near release and it already feels so hyped up by Obsidian with what they've promised to do that I don't believe them anymore. It's too much. I am seriously considering going back to my $35 donation I made day one of this KS.

A lot of the things they are adding onto the game is "simply" design stuff. More areas, more classes, more levels, more cities. Design is a question of manpower. 1 designer can design an X amount of content in the space of 18 months, so 2 designers can design 2X amounts of content, and 3 do 3X etc.

They aren't really adding to the complexity of the game. It's not as if one of their goals is "at 3.2 million, we'll add space combat, and at 3.5 million we'll add an RTS!" It's purely a function of designer man-hours to build all this extra content, not a function of complexity.

For 500K extra, they can likely hire 4 designers (or assign 3 of their current staff to work on this game instead of another) to work for 18 months, so those 4 guys can create a city with 4X amount of content. (And I'm being pretty damn generous with salary too, btw. I doubt most designers make anywhere near that amount of money. I think the programmers do, but designers probably make 50-60K with benefits and that's it. Probably the same for artists.)

Don't get too caught up in "how little" money it is. Current game design has gotten bloated beyond stupidity. Graphics have to look the best of the best, so a dev needs like a hundred artists to make all those mega high-res textures. Every line needs to be voice acted, and publishers want famous names of actors to put on the box, so they hire expensive voice actors, which are guys who literally cost 2, 3 dollars a word. And with most publishers nowadays, ~25% of a game's budget is actually making the game, and ~75% is marketing. (Those are actually EA's numbers, but I'm sure the others aren't very far off.)

Let's say they finish with 3 million. 8% of it goes to KS and Amazon Payments, which is 240K, and judging from the swag they're doing, that's going to cost them... I'm going to say half a million bucks, but maybe it'll be a little more (I figure the cost will average out to about 10 bucks a backer.)

So they're left with a tad over 2 million bucks. They already have the engine, and they already have a bunch of tools to work on stuff, so for 2 million bucks, they can have about 15-20 guys work full-time on this game for 18 months. You'd be amazed how much game can be made by that many experienced guys in that amount of time, especially since they

A) Don't have to please some publisher jackass who wants shit changed at the last moment.B) Don't have to worry about adding in a third party cover system, since every game NEEDS one in this day and age.C) Don't have to worry about mp, since every game obviously NEEDS mp.etc.

Add in the fact that a lot of these guys have made this exact type of game before, plenty of times, and I think they're being pretty reasonable with their stretch goals.

Since they are getting more money than they asked for, they'll be able to hire more folks to help get the game with all the added stuff done in about the same amount of time.. That's why the 2nd big city is a $500k jump from the previous goal vs $100-200 which many of the others were.

I have confidence that they know what they're doing and will make this game awesome. Even if it's half as good as it sounds I'll be happy!

Am I the only one that thinks they've way gone beyond the point of biting off more than they can chew? FWIW, I am currently at the $140 donation, in case that matters when reading my thoughts.

I agree with a point in their description. Baldur's Gate and Athkatla are big cities. The amount of detail in both, which were in separate games, was, at the the time and even especially today with how games are made, unbelievable. That said, they've gone from wanting 1.1 million for a early 2014 date to a game with suddenly a multiple fold addition in systems and content, at still an early 2014 release date. Maybe they planned this right from the beginning, but they've given little evidence so far that this is so. At 3.5 million, possibly achievable, they want two giant cities on top of everything else going on?

This has gotten ridiculous. They're promising the entire Baldur's Gate saga, on steroids, at this point, for a few million. 7+ stories of a mega dungeon, I imagine Watchers Keep (5 or so stories) alone took a dedicated semi-separate team working on the BG2 expansion the entire development time of said expansion to make.

The enthusiasm Obsidian is putting behind this, the daily updates, is incredible. However, this game isn't anywhere near release and it already feels so hyped up by Obsidian with what they've promised to do that I don't believe them anymore. It's too much. I am seriously considering going back to my $35 donation I made day one of this KS.

John wrote on Oct 13, 2012, 21:21:I wonder if the PE shirt will say Project Eternity on it or whatever the actual name of the game will be? I'm guessing it'll be the name of the game.

I'll probably add the expansion and Obsidian shirt as well. And after looking at other popular game Kickstarts, the last two days see a big increase in backers so I'm confident that this will too putting it over the $3.5mil mark even without Paypal backers.

The ala carte options are smart. You can tailor any sort of package you want, with as many as you want. And yeah, I wondered the same about the PE shirt.

Just crossed 60,500 people and less than 50K away from 3 million...here's to 3.5!

I wonder if the PE shirt will say Project Eternity on it or whatever the actual name of the game will be? I'm guessing it'll be the name of the game.

I'll probably add the expansion and Obsidian shirt as well. And after looking at other popular game Kickstarts, the last two days see a big increase in backers so I'm confident that this will too putting it over the $3.5mil mark even without Paypal backers.

blind.wombat wrote on Oct 13, 2012, 09:44:Oooh, glad I saw this news, as I had meant to contribute earlier but forgot about it. I'm really looking forward to this game.

Just pledged $500.

Rockin'

Indeed. I think I'm staying at $140, but then going the "build your own package" route of adding the expansion and maybe a second shirt. That way I get what I like, but I'm not out the full $250 (the autographed box is nice, but I don't really need it, and I already own Wasteland 2).

eRe4s3r wrote on Oct 13, 2012, 02:05:Kicktraq says 3.5m is now on the radar, last time I saw a trend run like that it went straight up on the last day, so we might even get way beyond 3.5m , maybe there should be another stretch goal beyond 3.5m (3.6 / 3.7 / 3.8 (I think 3.8 is the real limit) because with Paypal we are now essentially guaranteed to be over 3.5m at the end. (Planetary Annihilation made 5% of their funding with paypal and I think this time it's going to be even more...)

Yeah, I too agree that they will pass $3.5 mil before the end. I'm not sure how well the momentum will carry over the weekend but I bet the last two days will see a lot of last min folks jumping in. I'll probably add another shirt or something before the end even though I already get one at the $140 tier.